Collaborative Classroom

Co-Teaching in Inclusive Settings

Course Outline

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to provide educators with a strong foundation for planning, implementing and maintaining successful co-teaching programs. Since most of today’s classrooms include a diverse student population that has different learning styles, cultural differences and educational needs, it has become important for teachers and administrators to find effective methods to help every student achieve greater success. Starting first with developing a clear definition of co-teaching, then examining critical components of co-teaching models, and finally evaluating current co-teaching programs, the focus of this course will be to explore both the conceptual and operational aspects of this approach to delivering instruction.

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals With Disabilities Act (IDEA) have brought increased pressure on all educators. Policy makers and school reformers have set higher standards making teachers and administrators responsible for ensuring students meet the higher standards on state assessments. All students including those with disabilities are expected to achieve the same success as other students. IDEA requires that students with special needs be educated in the least restrictive environment and whenever possible, in the general education classroom where they are provided with access to the same general education curriculum as all other students. In addition, many educators are finding that increasing numbers of students come to school with a variety of other problems putting them at greater risk of failing. In order to successfully address the challenges of meeting the needs of all these different students, co-teaching has received widespread attention and has become an accepted form of delivery of instruction. IDEA will be reauthorized in 2008 and it is expected that school districts will be required to include co-teaching classes as part of their educational program.

This course examines the most commonly accepted co-teaching practices between general and special education teachers on the elementary, middle and high school levels. It is based on current research and experiences of prominent individuals in the field of education including Richard A. Villa, Dr. Marilyn Friend and Carol Ann Tomlinson.

Provide a rationale through philosophy, research and recent federal and state legislation for implementing co-teaching

Relate co-teaching to current trends toward collaboration in public schools, both in general education and special education

Examine the effectiveness of co-teaching for teachers and students

Define the roles of the general and special education teachers.

Define the types of services special education teachers can provide

Identify individual prerequisites for co-teaching

Define the professional relationship between co-teachers

Examine guidelines to achieve parity in the co-teaching relationship

Clarify the roles of and establish guidelines for the collaborative relationship between co-teachers and other school related professionals who serve to meet students’ IEP mandated goals. These individuals may include the literacy coach, ESL instructor, resource teacher, speech and language pathologist, and school psychologist

Outline steps for administrators to support co-teaching practices

Identify the eight critical components of the co-teaching relationship

Implement strategies for effective dialogue that will improve and enhance co-teaching relationships

Analyze the most commonly accepted instructional models used in co-teaching classrooms

Identify how each model provides a format for teachers to modify both instruction and student work

Identify the categories of student disabilities

Examine how the co-teaching models meet the needs of students with disabilities

Identify factors that contribute to the effectiveness of co-teaching programs

Identify factors that undermine the effectiveness of co-teaching programs

Evaluate program efficacy from teacher, student, administrator and parent surveys

Develop additional strategies for effectively evaluating programs

Evaluate differentiated instruction lessons

Examine a variety of ways common planning time can be scheduled

Develop collaborative meeting agendas, planning sheets, etc.

Curriculum Design & Time Requirements

The activities are designed to allow participants to experience various co-teaching models. The methodology used in this course provides participants with the necessary tools and practical strategies to work effectively in a co-taught classroom. Participants will apply course curriculum to a school study or project that will be presented during the last class sessions. The students will be required to complete and pass a final examination that reflects their course knowledge. Collaborative Classroom is a 3 credit graduate level or forty-five hour professional development course taught on weekends or over five full days.

Course Materials

The required text for this course is “A Guide to Co-Teaching: Practical Tips for Facilitating Student Learning”by Richard A. Villa, Jacqueline S. Thousand and Ann I. Nevin. The text begins by first examining what co-teaching is and the importance of each of its elements. It also looks at the day-to-day workings of co-teaching teams on each of the different teaching levels and how the effective partnerships can benefit student learning. Each co-teaching model is thoroughly explored and vignettes of each model are provided. The text includes additional resources, references, supplemental aids and a glossary. In addition, participants may receive supplemental material.

Session Outline

Session 1: Defining a Collaborative RelationshipContents:

Personal reflection and experiences: How would you define a collaborative relationship?

What have been your personal experiences in collaborative and/or co-teaching relationships?

Introduction and sharing of reflection responses.

Classroom demographics chart (i.e. - class representation)

Definition of collaborative relationship: A class consensus

Course requirements

Instructor's expectations

Course registration

Session 2: Establishing a Rationale for Co-Teaching a it Relates to Research and LegislationContents:

History of inclusion

Overview of IDEA and NCLBT-Chart of advantages and disadvantages of having two teachers in a classroom

Research-supported benefits of collaborative classrooms for teachers and students

Surveying teachers, administrators, students, parents about the effectiveness of their co-teaching programs

Other strategies used for evaluating programs

Session 10: Final Projects and Final ExamContents:

Review

Final project reviews and presentations

Final exam

Evaluations

Grading

Assignment

Points

Grading Scale

Attendance and Classroom Participation

30

100
 93

A

In Class Assignments

20

92
 85

B

Final Project

20

84
 77

C

Final Exam

30

Total
Points

100

Student Academic Integrity

Participants guarantee that all academic class work is original. Any academic
dishonesty or plagiarism (to take ideas, writings, etc. from
another and offer them as one's own), is a violation of student
academic behavior standards as outlined by our partnering
colleges and universities and is subject to academic disciplinary
action.